This video will leave you with an extreme sensation of chills. Even if you are not a sports fan at all, you will highly enjoy this amazing collection of incredible sports moments. It is a brilliantly touching video that anyone can appreciate; The greatest moments in the history of sports. Read more of this post

Out of all the years of watching hockey, this is one of the most competitive and entertaining rounds of playoffs that I have seen in quite some time. Here’s a breakdown of each round 2 match-up, their make-or-break player, and what they need to do to win along with my predictions of who will win each match-up.

They are currently first in the Eastern Conference with only one true all-star. Henrik Lundqvist currently leads the NHL in shutouts and save percentage. Henrik Lundqvist is the only true all-star on this team. The Rangers are winning because of great goal tending and great team chemistry.

What is better?

Team chemistry or star players?

You’re seeing it now with Jeremy Lin, and the same goes for the Rangers, nothing beats team chemistry. Trading for Rick Nash will break that team chemistry the Rangers have built so far. Rick Nash is not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, Nash can score at will and dominate games.

However the Rangers already have their goal scorer in Marion Gaborik. Coming into the season the big name the Rangers got was Brad Richards.

The big question was can Richards get Gaborik back on track?

Gaborik has responded with one of his better seasons in terms of scoring. In reality, Gaborik and Rick Nash are the same player. They are finesse players with one job, score goals. The Rangers are a physical hockey team that grinds out games, hence why Ryan Callahan is team captain.

The Rangers are winning because they have the right amount of grit sprinkled with the right amount of finesse in Marion Gaborik. If the Rangers trade for Rick Nash their getting too much finesse and lose part of their grind it out mentality.

Instead of having one finesse goal scorer they will have two. This will force the Rangers to change-up what they do best to make sure Nash gets involved. John Tortorella is a coach that stresses physical hockey. Gaborik is not a physical hockey player. However, the fact that he is the lone finesse goal scorer allows the rangers to still be a grind it out team.

Gaborik is just the right amount of finesse in an overall physical hockey team. Adding Rick Nash will add to much finesse thus upsetting the balance of the Rangers.

The Rangers are in first place for a reason.

Let’s not mess up what this team has done and try to change the identity of the Rangers as the playoffs are approaching. Let the Rangers keep grinding out games, that is New York Rangers hockey, and that’s the brand of hockey that will bring them the most success.

Where do I believe Rick Nash will land?

I believe he will ultimately stay in Columbus. Most of the contending teams this year are young teams who do not want to mortgage their future for a playoff push.

I do not see Nash moving because the Blue Jackets are asking for too much. Nash is a pure goal scorer which is great, but contending teams will not want to give up their top players young prospects for a playoff push.

With a win over the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets, the Rangers improve to 38-14-5.

That is first place in the Eastern Conference and best in the NHL.

Despite that, the Rangers continue to fly under the radar in New York, Linsanity definitely has something to do with that. However, the Knicks are just a .500 team at the moment with potential to be a contender.

The Rangers are in FIRST PLACE IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE and have been DOMINATING ALL SEASON LONG.

TIME TO HOP ON THE BANDWAGON?

The addition of Brad Richards this past off-season has made a huge impact on the Rangers and Marian Gaborik has been playing great. Captain Ryan Callahan’s style of play with his physical/fast paced mentality has also taken shape in the Rangers play.

However, the Rangers MVP (and NHL MVP) thus far has been Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist is having an EXCELLENT year and has been a major part of the Rangers success. Also, the Rangers have made a commitment to blocking shots for Lundqvist.

Lundqvist is 28-11 with a Save Percentage of .941 (leads NHL) and 7 shutouts.

Lundqvist also is 2nd in NHL in GAA (Goals Against Average) with 1.77

PRETTY DOMINANT?

The Rangers are 5th in the NHL in killing off Penalties, this is very important and very good for the Rangers. Killing off penalties is an essential part of a championship team and the Rangers have that aspect down perfectly.

If there is one weakness I see in the Rangers, it is their power play production. The Rangers rank 27th in the NHL on power play efficiency (14.3%). That is something that MUST be improved if the Rangers want to bring Lord Stanley back to New York.

The Rangers are playing great Hockey and excitement builds in the city with every win. Casual fans are taking more notice every day and die-hard fans are going nuts.

I am a casual Ranger fan and I admit it, However, I just can not wait until the playoffs, that is when I really start paying attention (relax die-hard fans, it’s an 82 game season).

Personally, the Hockey playoffs in terms of excitement and quality of play come 2nd to football in my opinion. Playoff Hockey is awesome and attending Hockey games are great, if you have not been to a hockey game, you are missing out.

Let me start up front by saying I watch very little hockey. However, I now have a new favorite player: Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. The Stanley Cup champion Bruins visited the White House yesterday, but Thomas was not among them. Why? Read his statement below:

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.

This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.

Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.

This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT”

Save, and a beauty!

I could not agree more, Tim Thomas, and there are millions of us in this country that feel the same way. What struck me odd was the blizzard of negative comments from the media and the public. Poltico used what was, in my mind, a very misleading headline insinuating Tim Thomas specifically snubbed President Obama.

ESPN Boston columnist Joe MacDonald writes that Tim Thomas “put himself above the team” and chose an “inappropriate time and venue” to espouse his political beliefs. The sentiments are echoed on any number of sports blogs, with more people seeming to criticize Tim Thomas than support him. Not all the coverage is negative, however: here is an article from Yahoo Sports supporting Tim Thomas.

Lulz

To his detractors I have this to say: Tim Thomas is a hero. I don’t use that term lightly, especially as it relates to sports figures. This country is on a teflon-coated slide into tyranny, and most of our dumbed-down, anti-depressant quaffing, reality-TV show watching populace seem ambivalent at best, tendingtoward ignorance in the majority of cases. He had to see this negative publicity coming, and yet he stood up for what he believes in. Tim Thomas has now brought the issues of liberty to the forefront, reaching millions of people who in all likelihood had not thought of it before.

This American and fellow lover of liberty thanks you, Tim Thomas. You have gained more fans than you have lost, I assure you.

Not only do all of his teammates now make fun of him with his aura of an awkward weirdo, but he just gets stranger every episode of “Rangers/Flyers Road to The Winter Classic 24/7.”

I guess it makes sense that most goalies are awkward and crazy individuals.

I mean, their job is to stand in front of a 100mph piece of frozen rubber, and you definitely must have some screws loose to agree to that.

In the video below, you see some of Ilya Bryzgalov’s Flyer teammates making fun of him. Then they receive an interesting fact about what he thinks of his dog. Shortly after, you hear about his broken chest plate and why he thinks defenseman are crazier than he is. Enjoy:

Philadelphia Flyers’ goalie Ilya Bryzgalov is a very unique person who sees things differently. One of those things in particular being the universe. In the video below he goes into slight detail of what he thinks about the universe and other galaxies. I actually think this video is hysterical, mainly because of his strong Russian accent, but it shows a lot of people think outside of the box. Enjoy:

Even though it may only be a little more than a quarter through the NHL season, the New York Rangers have become both an offensive and defensive dominant force on the ice. They are not only in 4th place in the NHL, soon to be 1st as they are 3 games played behind the leader and only 4 points shy, but they have the highest winning percentage in the NHL.

The off season acquisition of Brad Richards proves to be the best deal the Rangers have made since Marian Gaborik. In addition to off season moves, naming Ryan Callahan Captain has given him the heart he needs to be on track for a 30 goal season.On that note, All three of the players listed above are on track to bank 30 to 40 goal seasons which has never happened in New York Rangers franchise history. As of 27 gamesplayed the three player’s stats stand as Richards- 11G 14A, Gaborik- 15G 10A, and Callahan- 12G 9A.

Another key piece to add to the equation is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. He has made some of the most amazing saves this season and is known to be one of the top 3 (in my opinion the number 1) goaltenders in the league. Even in past years he has carried the team defensively to the playoffs on his part alone and is known to shutout superstar players. The main difference between past seasons and this season is now the New York Rangers are a defensive powerhouse and an offensive juggernaut which puts quite a bit of support in front of Lundqvist for the occasional garbage goals he every so often lets in the net.

Collectively the New York Rangers have a young and talented team that has been feeding off of victory with players like Derek Stepan, Dan Girardi, and Carl Hagelin who just continuously fuel the fire. The New York Rangers may very well be in the toughest division in the NHL with rivals such as the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins but I really believe that with this revamped team, history will be made and the New York Rangers have an overwhelming potential to become the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions.

Concussions are becoming a very serious matter in contact sports, not just professional but as well as youth, high school, and college sports.

With a specific focus on concussions in football and hockey, I personally believe they are changing sports for better and for worse.

A concussion is a head injury with temporary loss of brain function, they have always been a piece of interest in sports but recently they are becoming more and more apparent and pose a serious problems to the rules and regulations of the sports we grew to know and love.

Firstly, with the rise of concussions there is a limit to the amount of play professional athletes are able to maintain. Simply put, there are rules in place where once a player is declared to have a concussion they are required to pass concussion symptom tests performed by their respective trainers.

Even if they feel healthy enough to play they are still not legible to step on the ice or field until they pass the required tests. This matter arose as retired athletes were experiencing post-concussion symptoms or even worse psychological disorders such as dementia.

In football, the sport is evolving to the point where you are required to make a perfect form tackle on an opposing individual or you are likely subject to a fine. In regards to hitting quarterbacks, it is getting to the point where players are just about barely able to touch them without having a penalty such as” roughing the passer” called on themselves. Even though the hits causing most concussions are dangerous, players were taught to be as aggressive as possible but I still think the hits are just plain entertaining and should be allowed as long as there was no specific intent to give a blow directly to the head .The following video is one example of a questionable hit that caused a concussion and resulted in a fine ( I don’t believe the player should have been fined for this hit as he even argued himself that this was how he was taught to hit and it comes as second nature to stop a play and not allow the opposing team to make a play):

Concussions have become such a matter of concern in football that doctors around the nation even declaring to get rid of youth football and instead not allow individuals to play football until they are at least age 16 due to brain development.

I find this absolutely ridiculous because almost everyone has played football as a child and it is part of the American dream to play football in my opinion. Also as a child you are able to retain the rules of football better as children’s brains are like a sponge soaking up information from the environment around them.

In hockey, rules are changing due to hits causing concussions on star players such as Sidney Crosby, Marc Staal, and Ryan Miller. Sidney Crosby was slammed into the board and hit his head which resulted in him being out for several months with post-concussion symptoms, from this they have enforced stricter boarding rules which now can bring a suspension to the individual who placed the hit. Marc Staal was hit by older brother, Eric Staal, on open ice and he continues to be out with post-concussion symptoms. This hit resulted in no suspension or fine, just some inter-family anguish. My most outstanding opinion is towards Milan Lucic’s hit on Ryan Miller. I don’t believe there was any problem with him making the hit on Miller as he was far out of the crease and triangle (normal goalie zone). He was suspended and fined for this hit yet he was simply making a play. If Miller had not left his zone he would have been in the clear but the rules have now been changed that no player may make a hit on the goalie under any circumstance. In the following video you will see the hit itself and realize that he had no option but to make the hit, I mean come its hockey it’s meant to be a physical sport that requires awareness and quick thinking and before the 2004 season lockout players were able to slash and be as aggressive as they wanted for the entertainment perspective:

With everything in mind, you really have to consider players in all sports are making millions of dollars and living a life of luxury, I’m sure they can afford taking a concussion every now and then to keep sports entertaining. So come on, let sports rules and regulations stay how they are and don’t allow the pussification of sports in America.